It is one of most memorable sights in Spain, a huge black bull with horns and prominent cojones that sits on hilltops and roadsides watching over the passing traffic.

But now the emblematic toro de Osborne, the profile of a Spanish bull that was first used to advertise a 1950s brandy, is set to emigrate as cities in Europe and the United States ask for the 14 metre high billboards and the winery that owns the image seeks ways to cash in on its famous logo.

"We have opened up three Osborne bull shops of our own in Spain and have just opened the first Spanish franchise," said spokesman Iván Llanza. "We plan to expand abroad, in part because so many people contact us asking to use the image."

Llanza said the company had received requests from Dallas, in the United States, and the Danish capital of Copenhagen, asking if they, too, could erect the giant bull-shaped billboard that sits by 94 Spanish roads.

"We are considering those requests," Llanza said.

The bull was designed in 1956 and survived an attempt by Spanish traffic safety authorities to kill it off in the 1990s. They wanted the bulls torn down, claiming they distracted drivers.

Llanza says the bulls are not meant to represent the bullfight. "These are not fighting bulls, they are roadside bulls – large pieces of metal, painted black and with very long lifespans," he said.

The Osborne shops sell goods that range from motorbike helmets to shirts and tea towels, all of which carry the bull logo.

The company launched its own merchandising after seeing the bull used, without Osborne's permission, on a vast array of souvenirs and other trinkets. Its shops, however, are still only a small part of a business group that includes wineries, sherry and serrano ham production.

"Our first shops are here in Spain, where clients are both Spaniards and tourists," Llanza said. "We are very careful about design and hope the franchises will enable us to expand abroad."

Although the company was founded in 1772 by an Englishman, the Exeter wine importer Thomas Osborne, there has been no request for an Osborne bull to be erected in Britain. "But we would be delighted if there was," said Llanza.